The battle to save Terania Creek rainforest

THE battle to save Terania Creek forest impacted on the way we valued our environment and changed a community forever.

A male protester is dragged down a dirt track by two policemen. It was the first public image of Australia’s first forest blockade, at Terania Creek. It won the newspaper’s Photo of the Year Award in 1979. Picture: Darcy McFadden

IN the late 1970s Terania Creek became the focus of an environmental protest that shaped the way we think about our environment today.

It was the first time people formed a human shield to protect a rainforest and made headlines around the country.

Anti-logging and pro-logging proponents clashed as the community battled with the idea of protecting the environment versus the need to create jobs.

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The first confrontation on August 16, 1979 saw 100 protesters form human barricades to block bulldozers and police making their way into the rainforest.

As the blockade continued over a number of weeks, Government officials visited the rainforest to survey the issues.

The Wran government made the decision to gazette remaining rainforest in NSW as National Park, bringing an end to logging at Terania Creek.

The rainforest became the Nightcap National Park in 1983 under the Forestry Revocation and National Park Reservation Act 1983 (NSW).